1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a re-usable database system and also to content management tools using such a database.
2. Related Art
Simple rapid access to information is a requirement not just of business organisations but also of the general public. As such developments as the so-called xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cWorld-Wide Webxe2x80x9d (WWW) provide cheap access to information, sales and marketing promotions are accessible by personal computer users. Such users may browse information using keywords to identify products or services which they desire.
Consequently service providers produce xe2x80x9cpagesxe2x80x9d of information for browsers to view, each such page comprising a number of features. Features may include, for example, text, pictures, graphics and xe2x80x9cappletsxe2x80x9d which are programs downloaded to an end-user to provide moving features on the user""s viewing screen. It has been usual to create each page individually and to store it as such in what is sometimes referred to as an HTML (hypertext mark-up language) format.
Large organisations such as retailing conglomerates, major manufacturers and the like may have a large number of such pages each being individually created and each requiring independent editing.
In addition to publicly accessible pages many organisations also have restricted access pages available to so-called closed-user groups. Such pages are accessed on request by members of the closed-user groups and can be browsed in the same way as xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d pages. The use of this kind of system is sometimes referred to as an xe2x80x9cIntranetxe2x80x9d. Similarly, for Intranet use HTML pages may be individually created and edited.
Further, as well as Internet and Intranet access to information, so-called multimedia systems or interactive television access may be required. The information for these latter systems, while being based on the same kind of content (picture, text, moving picture, graphic and the like), may require different formatting and again may result in individual page files being held on a file server.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a database comprising a hierarchical arrangement of data tables, said data tables including a service table and a plurality of record tables, said service table having a plurality of service entries each of which identifies a unique service, each service being associated with a respective set of record tables each of which has a data entry identifying its respective service, for each service at least one of the associated record tables including record entries which are linked to shared record entries in other record tables by linking entries in linking record tables.
Preferably at least one of the record tables includes shared record entries used by more than one of the other record tables.
Some entries in one of the record tables may have inks to shared records in at least two other record tables, each link comprising an entry in a respective linking record table. Some entries in a record table may be linked to other entries in the same record table by entries in another linking record table.
According to a second aspect of t he invention the database of the invention may be combined with a service centre connected to a data transport network, the service centre comprising means responsive to customer requests received through the network, to assemble from a plurality of record tables in respect of an accessed service a presentation comprising details drawn from more than one of the tables.
The service centre may assemble data for display using a template defining a plurality of areas of a screen, each area requiring a defined format sub-display, each sub-display being assembled from one or more record tables and or from media files located in one or more record tables.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a content management tool in combination with a database of the kind claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, the tool comprising a terminal attached to a data transport network and having access to the database through the network, the tool including means to allow authorised end-users of a service to create entries for each of a plurality of record tables and to create and/or delete links between records in a first of the tables and records in a second of the tables, said links being held as data entries in a linking record table such that records in the second table which may be useable by more than one record in a first table are available for linking.
Preferably the content management tool includes means to allow authorised end-users to enter data to cause up-dating of records in the second table such that entities referred to in said second table and which are common to entities in said first table require updating only once.
The content management tool may include means responsive to end-user action to create additional records in the second table, said additional records becoming available for linking to records in the first table. The tool may include means to display to an end-user a list of records from the first table, means responsive to end-user action selecting a record from the list to display a list of records from the second table which are linked to the selected first record and means responsive to user selection to delete links in the linking table to selected records in the second table. Means may be provided responsive to end-user action to select one or more of the records from said list and to create a linking record in the linking table between the record selected in the first table and the record(s) selected from the second table.